Dr. Robert Silver is currently a Professor in the Department of Biology and the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute at Syracuse University.  Professor Silver was awarded a B.Sc. in Biology from the Illinois Institute of Technology (1973) and a Ph.D. in Zoology (1977; Cell and Developmental Biology and Protein Chemistry) from the University of California at Berkeley, and was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and the University of California at Berkeley (1977-1980; Biochemistry). He has held faculty positions at several U.S. institutions, and has served as a scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA) and Argonne National Laboratory. He has more than 85 peer-reviewed publications and three issued U.S. Patents with others pending. His biological research focuses on how cells make decisions, and combines analytical light and electron microscopy, optical spectroscopy, and protein and nucleic acid chemistry methods. His efforts also include, but are not limited to, forensic applications of optical imaging, spectroscopy, audio and video, photographics, and other physics-based tools. He has served with law enforcement units in Detroit (MI) and Syracuse/Central New York, assists local through U.S. Federal agencies, has successfully applied his approaches to incidents of alleged domestic abuse, post-blast analyses, and attends related continuing education opportunities. At Syracuse University, Professor Silver teaches Cell Biology, Advanced Light Microscopy and Optics, How Science is used to Solve Cold Cases, The Science of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, Careers and Professionalism, and trains undergraduate and graduate research students and visiting scientists.